


Pretty

by juiceboxjellyfish



Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Carry On Countdown (Simon Snow), Carry On Countdown 2019, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, I've decided that Wayward Son isn't canon, Insecure Simon, M/M, Post-Book: Carry On, Simon Snow wears a dress, fight me, nothing happens after Carry On they just move in together and live happily ever after, prompt: pattern, yeah I really stretched the prompt on this one but sshh don't tell anyone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:08:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21662674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juiceboxjellyfish/pseuds/juiceboxjellyfish
Summary: Simon thinks he wants to wear a dress, maybe. But he's not sure. And the idea makes him nervous.
Relationships: Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch/Simon Snow
Comments: 16
Kudos: 123
Collections: Carry On Countdown 2019





	Pretty

SIMON

I don’t know why I notice it. I’m casually scanning the shop windows as I walk past without any real intention to buy anything or even go inside, but for some reason it catches my eye. Not wanting to stop in the middle of the street to stare at it, I enter the store. 

It’s the first thing you see when you enter the store. A butter-yellow sundress with an intricate floral pattern in brighter, warmer shades of yellow. 

Baz called me pretty the other day. I’m used to his comments on my appearance (gorgeous, handsome, hot, beautiful and even cute are fairly common at this point) but something about this one took me by surprise. No-one’s ever called me pretty before, at least not to my face. 

“Pretty” was, in my head, reserved for people like Agatha. Feminine, perfect, dainty. Or, I thought it was. I realised as soon as I had the thought that it wasn’t true – Baz is pretty. Baz has always been pretty. He’s all those things he calls me too (or well, _cute_ is a stretch. He might kill me if I call him cute.) but I realised then that I had thought of him as pretty even before I was aware I loved him. (That should’ve given it away, shouldn't it? How often do people think of their rivals as pretty?) (How often do people think of boys as pretty?)

I stroke the fabric. It’s so light, so soft.

_Pretty_. Was that why it shocked me? The feminine associations? It might’ve been. That’s what Penny would say. That I’ve been influenced by gender norms, or something like that. I wonder what she’d think about the dress. 

Pretty. Boys can be pretty. Baz is. Am I? Do I want to be? 

The dress is pretty. And soft. And it’s on sale. 

It made me blush. I wasn’t doing anything special, I wasn’t dressed up or anything. I wasn’t even wearing trousers. I’d only been awake for about fifteen minutes and rubbed my eyes as I walked into the sunlit kitchen. Seeing Baz in there, making breakfast, made me smile. I grinned at him and he stopped for a moment, just looking at me.

“What?”, I asked.

“Nothing”, he replied. “You’re just so pretty.”

I hide the bag when I get home. I don’t know why.

I take it out when Baz is in the shower and hold it up in front of myself. I didn’t have the guts to do that in the shop, but it looks like it would fit. I stay there for a minute, admiring the pattern. 

Baz wears floral prints all the time. He looks great in them. 

Could I?

We’re sitting in front of the TV, but we’re not really watching whatever’s on. It’s mostly an excuse to be close to each other without having to talk. (It’s more for me than for Baz. He doesn’t mind talking, but he knows I’m bad at it.) I’m resting on his shoulder, letting him play with my hair. 

“I bought a dress”, I say. He turns his head just enough to look at me.

“Huh?”

“I was walking home and I saw this dress and I couldn’t stop looking at it so I bought it.”

Baz gives me a puzzled look but says nothing. 

“I don’t know if I’ll ever wear it. I don’t know if I’m brave enough.”

His face softens. 

“But you want to?”

“I think so, yeah.”

He sits up, forcing me to lift my head off his shoulder and face him. 

“Then you should”, he states. Is it that easy? It feels harder. It feels hard to keep looking at Baz. Like he could read my thoughts on my face.

“At least try it on. You don’t have to go outside in it, just show it to me.”

I could handle that. 

It does fit. 

“Is this dumb?”, I ask as I walk into the living room to show Baz.

“No”, he says, pulling me in to a kiss. “You look really pretty.”

_Pretty._

I think I like it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> I genuinely wasn't sure I'd even get a fic up today but I did, so yay! 
> 
> The plan is to do the whole countdown but some days will be art, so check those out on my tumblr, helloiamace. 
> 
> Please leave a comment if you liked it, they make my day!  
> Coherency not required.


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